Oh yes you are absoutley right. WE had a teacher who used to point at certain things and tell them to 'look it over' and yes we also had the one who would emphasize when reading - " Is the answer a....(softly) or b.....(softly) or

C ( emphasize C loudly)Yes , I kid you not! When the principal called her on it, she claimed she didn't know you couldn't do that!

1) The teacher reads the question under her breath so the student can hear it emphasizes certain important words.

2) Pointing to a part of a reading selection and asking the student if she "read it carefully?" 3) Having a group of students stand at the teacher's desk while she "explains" what a portion of a reading selection is stating.

I.E. - words of assistance - you should read the second paragraph again; are you sure you answered ALL the parts of the question? (Of course all these words are preceded with statements such as: I know it's difficult; you are doing such a wonderful job; you can do it if you take your time and look at every part of the question carefully...etc., etc.) I.E. - words of encouragement - you are doing a wonderful job; look how much you have finished; this is beautiful work; you are working very hard - good job; I'm so proud of you; I knew you could do it; etc., etc.

I also teach to a lower level and I must disagree with some of the things you are saying.

I do agree that emotional support is a high priority, but I have seen teachers who "overdo" the support and it actually starts to be assistance. At times that assistance isn't even intentional. As you well know, an awful lot can be communicated by tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. If, however, lower level students are on IEPs, then one can consider the testing accommodations and/or modifications that have been indicated - and who better to do this for them than the teacher they are most comfortable with?

As far as grading goes, unfortunately, I have seen written responses that have been HIGHLY overscored. A few years ago, a teacher gave a four to a paper that was loaded with spelling and grammatical errors almost to the point of being incomprehensible, and was non-sequential. In addition, the student failed to use details from the selection to support her response. Finally, the response, which should have been several paragraphs, consisted of five sentences. A four?? I was astounded. I pulled the paper and showed it to my principal who agreed that it should have received a one. It was too late. The grade had already been recorded. And what happened to the second teacher who should have read that response? Under questioning, she admitted that no one ever changes the scores anyway so her reading was only superficial and her input as to score was not even requested. Yes - I feel that the papers should be marked by someone other than their teacher.

What a shame that they think we shouldn't proctor our own students. My students are the "lower level" kids who have serious anxiety about math as well as serious trouble perservering through the whole test. Having me there as EMOTIONAL support is absolutely necessary. Actually, having your own teacher there for emotional support is usually helpful for students of all levels (the higher level ones aren't counting on it to be able to graduate from high school though). This shows a lack of understanding once again for what it is that we actually do for kids....this is so sad. As for not grading them - give me a break - how are we supposed to know what our students are consistently doing right and wrong if we can't see what they have written!? UGHH! I cannot improve as a teacher if I don't know what they are doing wrong under pressure! Liz Waite